I understand you've been through a lot. I'm hoping that you honor our request for verification so that we can get to the truth of the matter.

Please let me know if you can help us with this.

Originally Posted by matt.m

Eh,

I don't know you guys from Adam. Not only that but I don't give up my social security number. I am a bit afraid of identity theft.

Not to be a hater or anything but everyone else accepts a photocopy of the 214. I go to a Vet. Service officer......photocopy of 214 accepted. Initial V.A. visit over 10 yrs. ago......copy accepted......College V.A. rep, copy accepted. D.M.V., Voc. Rehab, copy accepted. Anywhere Military Discount is used......V.A. I.D. card.

Look, believe me.....don't believe me. I am a small time judo instructor that has done some cool stuff, been to some cool places, won some tournaments. Seen a lot of hurt, pain, anger, death.

You've been through a lot of danger and pain. We've been through a lot of fraud. We're cautious because of the hard lessons of experience, same as anyone else would be.

We didn't post falsified credentials on the internet; you did that. I'm still not sure you aren't trolling. This will sound paranoid, but it's entirely possible that there's a legitimate war hero Judo black belt teaching in St. Louis, but you aren't him. That's happened here before, too.

The words "witch hunt" carry a specific connotation; they refer to investigations that aren't evidence-based; investigations that begin with the determination to reach a specific conclusion and then ignore all evidence that contradicts that conclusion--hence the term derived from the famous witch hunts that began with the proposition that certain women just had to be witches and proceeded to reach that conclusion no matter what evidence was presented.

Your situation is a little different. You made a claim (BJJ black belt) and then provided evidence, but your evidence turned out to be fake. Then you blamed the fakery on a third party, but you still haven't explained how the fakery could have been accomplished. You claim that the reason you have fake credentials is that two of your trusted war buddies defrauded you for a few hundred dollars. No one has been rude enough to mention this yet, but that's fairly implausible in and of itself. What are the odds that your group of Marine acquaintances includes two Marines who both turn out to be con artists? It strains credulity.

That is NOT to say that it couldn't be true. But the logical thing to do when someone makes an extraordinary claim is to ask to see the evidence. Generally, people who change the subject to all the haunting deaths they've witnessed and the fact that this or that media outlet did a story on them are hiding a fraud. However, it has also happened that people did all these things we associate with dishonesty and turned out to be completely legitimate.

You still haven't explained how Eric Thompson fooled you into believing that you were certified in Gracie Combatives with a .jpg file. You also have not explained how the Roger Gracie certificate came from Michael Garcia. How does that work? Did you train in BJJ under Garcia, or did he tell you that you were good enough to be given the rank on your merits?

By the way, just so you know, the email I sent you was not intended to draw you out or set a trap. I sent it before I read to the end of the thread, hoping you could recommend reasonably-priced judo in my area. Ignore it if you wish; no hard feelings.

You still haven't explained how Eric Thompson fooled you into believing that you were certified in Gracie Combatives with a .jpg file. You also have not explained how the Roger Gracie certificate came from Michael Garcia. How does that work? Did you train in BJJ under Garcia, or did he tell you that you were good enough to be given the rank on your merits?

Don just summarized the issue there. I've never heard of someone getting only a .jpg for a Black Belt certificate before.

While it is POSSIBLE that two separate people defrauded Mr. Morton with the exact same technique, It does not appear PLAUSIBLE. We need more verification to contraindicate the obvious conclusion here.

And lo, Kano looked down upon the field and saw the multitudes. Amongst them were the disciples of Uesheba who were greatly vexed at his sayings. And Kano spake: "Do not be concerned with the mote in thy neighbor's eye, when verily thou hast a massive stick in thine ass".

His cooperation will help us to determine exactly what happened. That is what we are going for here. If he is an innocent victim of two opportunistic assholes, than those guys are the ones we want to expose, not him. We are just working with what's in front of us, because anything else would be irresponsible.

And lo, Kano looked down upon the field and saw the multitudes. Amongst them were the disciples of Uesheba who were greatly vexed at his sayings. And Kano spake: "Do not be concerned with the mote in thy neighbor's eye, when verily thou hast a massive stick in thine ass".

I will say that Eric and Mike both reside in CA. I am not sure of Erics exact whereabouts. However, Mike was in our unit before he re enlisted. When Mike re enlisted he did so with the MSG package.

Anyhow, I was always a bit arrogant......who survives in a Victor 2 forward deployed unit and isn't. When I did the wrestling stuff I played a lot of the Movie "Vision Quest." Eric and Mike we insepriable.

FWIW: I was told via phone, "Hey, we'll send you an image so you can send it electronically and you'll get a hard copy of the cert." Ok, I don't have a scanner......living on a govt. pension is tough and I don't like to incur extra expenses.

I have had problems in the St. Louis area. Ask Zen about Brett Huelsmann. He is a guy I kicked out of class because he liked to practice judo on his unwilling wife. It has taken me a while to clear myself with the Judo community locally. Obviously if I had something to hide I wouldn't be forthcoming. I feel I have.

I am sorry, to Don......I never got an email concerning local judo in IL or MO from you. Sorry my friend.

Scrapper, what clan do you hail from? Mine happens to be Dougal, Mc Dowell, McNeely.

Obviously if I had something to hide I wouldn't be forthcoming. I feel I have.

In that spirit, would you be willing to sign an SF-180 I send you and send it in a pre-addressed, stamped envelope to the NPRC, so that Bullshido can have proof of the details of your military service?

You will not need to give me your Social Security number for this to happen. I'll never see the form you send in. It goes straight to the NPRC, and they do not send a copy of the request form with their reply.

matt, i work at a bank in chesterfield. you can email me at pilkinton.st@gmail.com, or pm me for contact info at work. i'm super easy to find. bring me any paper certs you have and i can get those scanned no problem. or, we could meet up at a kinkos if that makes you more comfortable.

anyway. i want to believe you that you are a qualified judo and KMA instructor. i've always wanted to do judo, but i've been pigeon holed into KMA my whole life.

anyways, the offer is out there. we can meet up anywhere you feel comfortable. it's really easy to find me in the chesterfield vally. or, if the city is more your style, i spend a lot of time at the source bookstore and kohn's deli, both on olive in creve couer. and then there is always dolly's playhouse in washington park if you feel like clearing your name and getting face aids at the same time ;).